


Reunion

by TheSWFan



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:27:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29979435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSWFan/pseuds/TheSWFan
Summary: Anakin visits Ahsoka after the events of Return of the Jedi. Conversation ensues.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano
Kudos: 21





	Reunion

Ahsoka was sleeping. She’d grown tired of meditating, and now she needed a long break and a recharge, because Force knows she’d been running and hiding for far too long. She was done,  _ so _ done with the galaxy, and fighting, and running, and all she wanted to do was just stay in one place and  _ rest _ . Was that so hard?

Then suddenly she was jerked out of sleep by the flaring of a long forgotten bond in her mind. A bond she had cherished for about two years, and then tried her hardest to forget. Anakin. Her Master. Her best friend. He who had gone cold and dark because for some Force-forsaken reason he thought he needed to. And she had never had any idea just  _ why _ Anakin would do anything like that.

But along the bond flared  _ peace _ , and  _ contentment _ , and… _ love _ ? Ahsoka gasped and tears began to slide down her face.

_ He did it. He came back. Anakin is back…Oh Master _ ….

And then the bond presence began to fade, slowly, but inexorably. However, when his presence left her mind and Ahsoka realized that this meant Anakin was  _ gone _ ,  _ gone _ and never coming back, it felt peaceful, it felt good, it felt…balanced. She smiled up at the stars as tears continued to flow because Anakin  _ did it _ and he was  _ okay _ and somehow he balanced the Force and even though he was dead now he still  _ did it _ ….

“Ahsoka?”

Her head snapped up and she twisted in the direction of the voice, igniting a lightsaber and preparing to fight... _ Anakin? Glowing? Blue? Huh? _

“Hello Ahsoka,” Anakin’s Force Ghost said. “It’s been a while.”

Ahsoka gulped in a breath and gasped, “Mast-Anakin! You-you did it? You’re back?”

“I’m back Ahsoka…and I wish I never left….”

Anger flares up at that. “Why Anakin, why did you leave! What could possibly justify…what could ever…why are you even here?”

Anakin winces. “You deserve answers to your questions. You deserve explanations. And, I’ll answer them all, because you deserve to be at peace. You…I hurt you  _ so _ badly, and…I want to make it up to you in whatever limited capacity I can.” When he finished speaking his head was hung and he was looking at the floor, and his voice was a dull whisper.

Ahsoka wants to feel sorry for him, but she can’t. She’s still too angry. “You turned your back on your friends, Anakin! You turned on Obi-Wan, on Padmé…on me.” Her voice broke and the tears came again. “Why did you do it?”

Anakin sighed. “It’s…both simple and complicated. The simple answer is that I thought it was the only way to save those I loved: Padmé, Obi-Wan and, of course, you.” He sighed again and looked at her, her eyes bloodshot and angry. “Let’s sit down,” he said, gesturing to the ground, “and I’ll give you the long story.”

Grumbling, Ahsoka deactivated her lightsaber and plopped down on the ground, a layer of dust that had gathered on her montrals and lekku coming loose and sifting through the air around her. Anakin snorted as he sat down across from her, and, against her will, she smiled at him, before remembering herself and reverting to a glare.

“Spill.” She ground out. “This better be damn good.”

“Well,” Anakin began, “we should start where I met the Chancellor for the first time. He complimented me after the Battle of Naboo, and, apparently, decided then and there that I would be his next apprentice. Through my apprenticeship, since Obi-Wan was dealing with Qui-Gon’s death and the other Jedi didn’t trust me because I was ‘too emotional’, ‘too dark’”—here Anakin rolled his eyes and made quote marks with his fingers—“I was nine…. Anyway, Palpatine would take me in and offer his little, uh, tidbits, of advice. Naturally being a newly freed slave and hurting for some authority figure to treat me well, I was quickly enamored with Palpatine’s charm, because he was the only adult who seemed to  _ care _ at that point.

“He was a master manipulator, feeding me bits and pieces to inflate my ego and tell me how powerful I was, but, since I was still in awe of the Jedi, because they had freed me, most of me was still allied with the Jedi. This continued up unto about a month before the Clone Wars began, when I began having dreams about my mother…dying.” His voice cut off at that and he hunched in on himself, trying to collect a semblance of calm.

Ahsoka blinked.  _ This was new _ . “You never told me about you having a mother, Mast-Anakin….”

“I know.” The admission was stilted, sharp. “It hurt too much. And then…what I did when…when I….”

“Anakin.”

A sigh. “I told Master Obi-Wan all about my dreams, and all he said to me was ‘Dreams pass in time’. But the feeling grew so strong, so I had to check, and I took Padmé and went to Tatooine.”

“Padmé?” Ahsoka was confused. “Why?”

“Oh.” Anakin chuckled. “I was assigned to her as a bodyguard due to threats on her life. You know, the usual.”

Ahsoka snorted this time. “Of course, the usual. Please continue.”

“Right. Anyway, I got to Tatooine and I was told my mother was kidnapped by Tuskens, so I went after her, and found her beaten and abused and tied to a pole, and she…died in my arms.”

“Oh.” Ahsoka breathed. I’m sorry….”

“And then,” Anakin continued, not listening, “I lost it. I was so angry, at Obi-Wan for not believing me, but then mostly at myself for  _ knowing _ what was going to happen and then still not  _ doing  _ anything about it….” He took a deep breath. “And then I killed the whole Tusken camp. With the Dark Side.”

“Oh.”

Anakin laughed mirthlessly. “I buried her, then Geonosis happened, and so many Jedi died, and I could feel it all, and then of course I had to get married to Padmé, but she made me so happy, and I needed that happiness, but I needed to talk about it, and I didn’t trust Obi-Wan to listen because he always seemed to judge, so that left…Palpatine.” He heaved a breath, and against her will Ahsoka found herself wondering if Anakin needed air anymore….

“I see. Oh, Anakin I’m sorry….” Was all she could think to say.

Anakin sighed again and rubbed a hand over his face. “Not your fault. Mine. At least the reaction was. Anyway, Palpatine was always so kind, and the Jedi were so aloof and strict and critical, and then you stepped off that ship, snarked me to my face and called yourself my Padawan.”

The blue markings on Ahsoka’s lekku darkened, and she ducked her head and smiled sheepishly over at Anakin.

“And I loved it.”

Ahsoka’s head snapped up in surprise. “You what?”

“I loved it because you reminded me so much of what I used to be like. And, if I’m being honest, what I still was at points during the war. So I decided to teach you, hoping that I could keep you from making my mistakes. Also, when I corrected your mistakes, it made it easier to internalize the lessons for myself…because I needed them as much as you did.” Anakin smiled. “We were so strong together, because we were so similar, and we treated each other as equals, as best friends. And I loved you for that. Then the Council turned on you,” his voice turned dark, “and only I truly believed in you, and I cleared you.”

Ahsoka gasped. “And…I left. Anakin, I-I didn’t-I should have-have  _ stayed _ ! You needed me, and I…I needed you.” Her voice dropped to a whisper as that last admission left her. “I thought I didn’t, but I did, and then I hurt us both…I’m so  _ sorry _ Anakin I….”

Anakin cut her off. “You couldn’t have known. It’s also likely that I would have turned anyway. I still would have been angry and distrustful of the Council, and you would have been Knighted and sent off on your own missions—oh I would have been so  _ proud _ —and probably events still would have played out the same, Palpatine definitely would have made sure you were off the planet for an extended time when he played his final hand.”

Ahsoka frowned, but was silent, mulling these words over in her head. “I think I get it now—why you turned.”

“Oh?”

“The only other people you trusted were off-planet, and, because of circumstances both of us remember none too fondly….” she grimaced. “The only person that you thought could help was Palpatine, and….”

“And then,” Anakin interrupted, “the Dark Side clouded my mind, I couldn’t think straight, and by the time the dust had settled, I thought no-one was left who could help me. So…I followed Palpatine.”

“Then you came back.” Ahsoka reminded him.

“Yes, because of my son. Deep down, I loved him, and knew he was innocent in all this, and he just loved me back…. I know you loved me too,” he smiled at Ahsoka, “but given that we dueled in a Sith temple. I think it’s fair to assume that it would be very hard to get me a fully clear head there. You tried…and it almost worked…. I don’t blame you though.”

Ahsoka smiled back through a new wave of tears. “Thank you Master.”  _ Oh _ .

Anakin stiffened. “Ahsoka…?”

Ahsoka was lost in thought for a few seconds, and then said, “I think that means I forgive you,  _ Skyguy _ .”

Anakin froze again, and suddenly he lunged forward and he was hugging her and his hand was stroking her rear lek and Ahsoka didn’t want to think about whether this should be possible because Anakin was  _ dead _ and yet he was touching her and she had her arms around him and oh  _ Force _ his touch felt so good because it had been  _ so long _ ….

“Oh Ahsoka… _ Snips _ …th-thank you….” Anakin was holding on to her tightly and she didn’t want him to let go because he was  _ still _ touching her and it was as if the bond was back and suddenly all she felt was  _ love _ and….

_ Oh, Anakin, Master, Skyguy _ ….

He pulled back, but held on to her shoulders. “I am so, so, so  _ proud _ of you.” The words rushed from his mouth. “Through all the mess you went through, all the damage I did to you…you never lost the light. I’m just so proud, Snips, so proud….”

Ahsoka placed her finger on his lips to quiet him and said, “I know, Master, and it’s because I never turned that I knew you’d be back, because you taught me everything I know…and you could always do things better than me…so I knew the light was still there and I knew you’d reach for it in the end.”

Anakin smiled and brushed his hand over her left cheek markings. “In the end, Ahsoka, my greatest dream came to pass. You’re a better Jedi than I ever was.”

She couldn’t say anything more so she just threw herself in his arms again and basked in the  _ love _ and  _ joy _ and the Force  _ sang _ ….

Eventually, they broke the embrace. “I have to leave,” Anakin said, “but I’ll be back soon and we can talk and laugh and relax like the old days because it’s all finally  _ over _ ….” He trailed off.

“I know, Master, and I look forward to it.”

As Anakin faded, he raised an arm in farewell: “May the Force be with you Snips.”

“And with you Skyguy….”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Decades later, Ahsoka laid on her bed, her breathing shallow and fast. She knew that this was the end, that her life was almost over, but she did not fear. She had the Force. And the Force had her.

“Hey, Snips, you need a hand, one last time?”

Ahsoka looked up to see a smiling Anakin above her, extending his hand to her.  _ And now, I have Anakin. And Anakin has me. _ “Why, Skyguy, it would be my greatest honor.” Smiling, she took his hand, and he pulled her into the Force, and into the everlasting love that followed.

The Force was with them.

_ Fin. _


End file.
